Information storage devices include computer systems and other consumer electronics products that can retrieve and/or store data. An information storage device may incorporate a magnetic hard disk drive. Magnetic hard disk drives are sensitive to their external environment, including mechanical shocks and vibrations, externally applied forces and electromagnetic fields, contamination, changes in temperature and/or humidity, etc. Therefore, an information storage device's housing and mounting system for an incorporated hard disk drive may affect overall device performance, reliability, and lifetime.
Disk drives may be housed within the system for which they retrieve and/or store data. For example, so-called “internal” disk drives are housed within a host computer system for which they store data, and therefore internal disk drives may take advantage of the host computer system for electrical power, electromagnetic shielding, convective and/or conductive cooling, and some degree of isolation from external mechanical shocks, and some attenuation of vibration and acoustic transmission.
Other information storage devices are external to another system for which they retrieve and/or store data. For example, a so-called “external” hard disk drive device includes a disk drive within a dedicated housing which may provide electromagnetic shielding, active or passive cooling, and some degree of isolation from external mechanical shocks, and some attenuation of vibration and acoustic transmission.
The mounting systems and housings for disk drives in modern information storage devices must often meet challenging space and cost requirements. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need in the art for improved disk drive mounting systems and housings in information storage devices.